Defendants in price-fixing suit look to Supreme Court ruling

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Real estate companies that face allegations of price-fixing in a lawsuit are asking the court to reconsider an order allowing the case to proceed in light of an antitrust-related U.S. Supreme Court decision in May. The lawsuit, which seeks class-action status, charges that real estate consumers in Kentucky have paid inflated real estate commissions because of illegal price fixing by brokers in the state, facilitated by real estate rebate restrictions set by the Kentucky Real Estate Commission, a state agency. The lawsuit alleges that certain real estate companies named in the lawsuit "have charged a real estate broker commission of 6 percent, have described this 6 percent fee as the 'standard' or 'typical' fee, and have habitually refused to negotiate a lower fee. Certain (compani...